Travel Journal

Johannesberg - January 10 - 28

(Monday 28 January 2008) by Karin

Over these weeks I moved around between my Aunt and my 3 cousins (Rudy & Charlene, Hans & Sandra, and Bob & Annemarie). Lots of talking, too much eating and waaayyyyyyyyyyyy too much drinking. I never saw the bottom of my glass here.
Waiting for the rain to stop was another pass-time. It has never rained so much in such a short time . People here love it as they have not have rain for a while but I'm not so happy with it.
Another wait would be for the electricity to get back on. South Africa has a serious 'krach' crisis so the electricity sometimes gets shut down for hours. Of course, no advance warning so if you just started cooking..... tooooo bad.
But it is probably even worse for businesses as they cannot be run without electricity; Shops close down, restaurants cannot serve food, fridges and freezers in some of the grocery stores are not working, etc..... Farmers are having a hard time as the fridges in which they store their fruit are not cold enough so fruit stays on the trees until it is overripe or rotten. Enormous losses. This also means that people working in the fruit packing industry are out of a job.... no fruit, nothing to pack. Not enough work so people will get fired. Wine makers have the same problem. As does the dairy industry as they cannot keep the milk cool. Millions of rands are being lost on a daily basis. And ... imagine the mess when traffic lights in town are not working.
One sunny Saturday, a beautiful drive on rolling hills and winding country roads ended at the Wilwitschia market at Hartbeespoortdam. More than 40 open-air stands full of African curios to choose from. A great place to stock up on gifts and souvenirs. But again, everyone wants you to buy 'their' stuff so you really cannot look around in peace.
As some of you might know, South Africa is a meat-loving country and every weekend we had a braai (barbecue). This is as much a social event as a form of cooking here and is accompanied by lots of beer, wine, whisky, etc.... It is easy enough though to find vegetarian offerings. I don't go hungry.
This last weekend the sun finally decided to make an appearance and we visited some flea markets around Johannesburg. Fun but not so good for the wallet.

Tomorrow I will be leaving on my 18-day tour of South Africa so the rest of today will probably be spent packing again.
PS: What did South Africa have before candles????? (I will bring a small present for the person that gives me the right answer)